"The revised watershed agreement extends pollution-reduction targets and bets on voluntary measures to achieve cleanup goals that have remained elusive for decades."
"The Chesapeake Executive Council, the top body responsible for making policy decisions on the watershed’s restoration, on Tuesday adopted a revised Bay Watershed Agreement extending the region’s long-missed pollution cleanup timeline to 2040.
The council, led by Maryland Gov. Wes Moore, assembled at the National Aquarium in Baltimore to approve the updated agreement and reaffirm members’ commitment to its goals and to working cooperatively to restore, conserve and protect the Chesapeake Bay and its watershed.
Members voted Tuesday to name Pennsylvania Gov. Josh Shapiro as the next chair of the body. He will succeed Moore, who chaired the council for the past two years.
In addition to adopting the new agreement, members on Tuesday approved Tribal participation in the Bay partnership and directed staff to work with the seven federally recognized Virginia tribes through the Indigenous Conservation Council of the Chesapeake Bay and recommend pathways for its formal inclusion. Those recommendations, which could include adding tribal signatories to future agreements and establishing an Indigenous guardianship program, are due by July 1."
Aman Azhar reports for Inside Climate News December 4, 2025.
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